(Villepinte) Italian Angela Carini gave up on Thursday after less than a minute of her quarter-final fight (-66 kg) against Algerian Imane Khelif, present in the Olympic tournament despite high testosterone levels which had deprived her of the world championships.
After a straight punch to the face from Khelif, Carini turned to her corner, indicating that she did not want to continue. “I went into the ring to fight. I did not surrender but one punch hurt me too much and I said enough is enough,” the Italian boxer told her country’s media after her defeat. “I am no one to judge or make a decision, if this woman is here, there is a reason,” she added.
PHOTO MOHD RASFAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Imane Khelif (in red) and Angela Carini
“All these controversies give him the strength to move forward,” declared Khelif’s trainer, Mohamed Chaoua, after the fight.
“I thank the Algerian people. This is the first victory, and I hope to get the second to guarantee the medal. Then, I hope to win a gold medal,” declared Khelif, who, in recent days, has received the support of his federation which denounced a smear campaign “by foreign media” targeting him.
” They are women ”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced “a fight that was not on an equal footing,” adding that she did not “agree with the IOC.” “I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions,” she said, according to a video posted on X after the fight.
Khelif had failed a gender eligibility test set up by the international body (IBA) last year, ruling him out of the World Championships.
But on Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) supported her presence, as well as that of Taiwanese Lin Yu-tin, who had also been excluded from the World Championships and is due to compete on Friday. “All competitors respect the rules of eligibility for competitions,” IOC spokesman Mark Adam repeated on Thursday, adding that it was “established that they are women.”
“The testosterone test is not a perfect test. Many women can have testosterone levels equal to those of men, and still be women,” he said.
According to the Algerian boxer’s profile provided by the IOC, she was disqualified after “high testosterone levels” at the World Championships. As for Lin Yu-ting, according to her profile, she “did not meet the eligibility criteria after a biochemical test.”